Tag Archives: The Loudness Wars

Christmachine Easy On The Ears Debut Volumes – The Calm Before The Storm…

The Calm Before The Storm Christmachine Easy On The Ears Early Volumes – Photo Courtesy Of Doc Keyaza

Here we go, finally! Tomorrow begins the reviews en masse. The first new post review format (tomorrow) will be longer than others that follow because it will include all the information on the way this new format will be presented. It will also include, most importantly, the specific album review itself.

How it will work is that I will name tomorrow’s review, “Christmachine Easy On The Ears Volume #30”. The reason for this is that over the past few years we have done 29 reviews of albums (Located in past posts on this website), the thing is that they were not labelled and tagged with the new “Easy On The Ears Volume # xxx format.

So in this last post before the new series begins (tomorrow), I wanted to give direct links to the previous reviews here on the website to make it easier for newcomers to understand how past legacy works relate to those that follow. Further to make it easier for everyone to just click the links posted below, for those who want to view them without having to navigate the whole website.

So there you have it. Nice and simple…hope we explained so as not to confuse others that are unfamiliar. I look forward to this new format, as well as writing more in between over the coming years. Be well.

Love You Lots! Stay Well, Be Kind & Bless.

Tak Tak, Bless!

Grazie, Ciao!

Obrigadx, Tchau! Adeus!

Gracias, Adios!

(Vielen) Danke, Tchuss!

Merci, Au revoir!

Dank je…Bedankt, Alstublieft!

Merci Vilmal, Adeau!

Gracies, Adieu!

Gracies, Adeu!

CM ☕

☠

Please do not reproduce this article either all or in part without the expressed written permission of the (nutty) author who can be reached via the “Contact” section in the header menu. You may link to the article if you wish, all that we ask is that you give credit to the respective author…”Christmachine” wherever you post a link. Thank you.

Now With That Out Of The Way, Back To Christmachine – Audio Reference Server

Ahhh… Where Do You Keep The Vinyl Rips and Hi Resolution Digital Files ? ——————————–>Photo Courtesy Of Doc KEYAZA!!!

So there has been enough (So much!) time passed, it’s blatantly obvious to me that no one else will create an Audio Reference Quality Standards Catalogue for individual album releases. The powers that be have showed us time and time again that they feel that we should be left in the dark about the music we have purchased and continue to purchase. It’s loud and clear, they do not have to, there is no other option.

All we asked for was lineage and provenance of recordings that we spend gobs of cash for, as well as the textual and numerical details as to how they mastered, remastered, and transferred the new releases. Once again we are left clueless as to what we are purchasing. We know it can be done, some releases have done just that, usually projects overseen by reputable audio engineers.

I do understand that in some cases they do not know some of these details as they have been lost to time, poor record keeping, lack of proper labeling, and a sad state of storage of the original master tapes. In some cases they don’t even know whether they are the “original studio masters” or well travelled copies. We saw that in the report on the sad state of historical music archiving, much has been lost or destroyed….as we know back just a few decades ago music industry analysts and label bosses went with the prevailing wisdom, why would we want to preserve all this music–who is going to want it? What is the use?

Now that they realize the marketing and money making potential, oh the irony there, eh? All we have asked for is crumbs; forget about the old arguments (for a moment) on the loudness wars, whether high rez audio can be heard by the human ear (The Nyquist Theorem), Wheather vinyl has more warmth and soul, whether expensive cables give a +/- better listening experience, The law of diminishing returns, “Sources? / Laws of Science?, Do CD’s suck, the failure of SACD, .mp3’s are garbage, etc. Noel Gallagher saying there will be no more vinyl niche as an industry in a few short years as a result of streaming (He thinks? I agree, he is probably right).

With that said, our niche is just that–our niche, and it will continue as long as the electric grids are up. Even then some of us crazies will be powering phonographs with a stationary bike, using a carefully sharpened fishbone as a rudimentary needle, a significant other propping up a makeshift jimmy-rigged cardboard cone to telescope and carry those wondrous melodies to the flash mobs in our living rooms. Vinyl wear and tear bad, but for a time the ears are very good.

Remember what is normal any way, and relative to what? With those previous dire predictions of the future, keeping in mind that some of us have never had or witnessed an argument on the early Yahoo and Alta Vista message boards about the wonders of Hi Resolution Audio (It will always be Hi-rez to me, soz!), I will try to parse mixed nuts. Threading the needle like a steaming locomotive on crazy good meds, diplomacy will avail for all, no matter what our differences. Joy!

Why don’t we focus on the things that which we do agree.

We pay a lot of money re-purchasing music over and over.

Music listening is a different subjective experience for each person.

It “can” take a wee bit of trained ear (Not a B.S Degree), to hear improvements.

Provenance and Lineage of our recordings is Interesting and “nice” to have.

There is such a thing as “brick walling”, “anti aliasing”, and de-noising”.

There is more than one type of compression in music.

Type A removes many of the tiny spaces to make music file formats smaller.

Type B holds the fidelity of the performance together, Very Good!

Good source players are available at many price ranges.

There are good headphones and bad headphones at all price ranges.

When in noisy public settings, audio nuances tend to decline.

You Do NOT need to be an audiophile, to source good quality audio (If Available).

Audiophiles can be nuts, same with Hi-Rez deniers. (In a good way 😉 )

That said, Head-fi has it’s place, and deniers seem to hang around bigly.

There are, subjectively to each of us, good mastering engineers and poor ones.

We all have to listen to our source material and make our own judgements.

I can have (IMO); my own vast archive of “self-proclaimed” Reference Quality Vinyl Rips, Hi-Rez digital lossless [FLAC 24/48, 24/96, 24/172, 24/192, 32 bit float, .WAV, even ALAC and DSD], quality sourced and mastered CD’s [16/44] etc., portable DAP’s/amps/DAC’s, and use .mp3’s and Youtube to preview and stream when need be. It’s fine that you might consider this fodder, trendy, and hipsterish. I often use apple ear buds while on the go with the mobile. I’m not a gobsmacked music snob…I listen to AC/DC cranked on the local radio in the car, beautifully overbearingly loud in all its overly-compressed glory. I’d dance randomly in the street to an 80’s boombox with cassettes daily if these types of gatherings where more frequent.

You can have 50,000 lossy .mp3’s on the go, with an excellent ear, sourcing quality CD’s and audio on your own volition (all without my schtick). You might even listen to vinyl for nostalgia purposes possibly. Further you own low cost but excellent sounding source players as well as an expensive pair of headphones and/ or IEM’s. Even bluetooth love…it’s almost 5.0 (I too am sick of those frickin tangly chords). There’s nothing wrong with any of that. What I’m getting at is it doesn’t matter.

We can all site the Nyquist Theorem till we are blue in the face, and never get anywhere…agree to disagree perhaps. If you’re happy, I am happy.

Electronic music and Hip Hop does not and should not have to follow any of these rules. Electronic music tends to sound great, almost always produced very well, unless it’s a very low bit rate or has been up sampled, but that is usually by design. Hip Hop needs to be vicious or passive aggressive and Bassy…clean tight bassy…Superb dope! The only reservation I have is when either genre is too bright and shreds my ears. It’s rare, again unless by design.

Classical music is on the other end of the spectrum…the rules DO very very very much apply. Soundstage and instrument separation are paramount. Loud and soft, loud and soft just like The Pixies or Nirvana. A muddy midrange is a killer. Attack, sustain, decay should be transparently punchy, grainy, and accurate. The music has to breathe and pulse…ripping the heart right out your chest even with headphones on. Emotions, knocked about, tugged like a puppet to strings. It should convey an air of atmospheric space with perceivable parameters…and in a perfect world, pseudo-holophonic sound, as if you the listener can imagine you’re there live sitting center stage with the orchestra wrapped 180 degrees from ear to ear. You’ll know something is wrong right off, a piano from each and every-little-single-ebony-to-ivory key is muddled together as one, or squashed in a constant spew of notes like an accordion. We should be able to perceive and hear milliseconds of spaciation[sic] and be acute to a differentiation between every single tapped key, no matter how fast the piece. I’ve said before piano is the hardest instrument to reproduce in recording with accuracy. If that’s muddy then it’s all over. I won’t get started on the pneumatic breath of the solo cello…you get my drift.

Pop music…It depends on if it’s good! 😉 😉

So with all that said we arrive at the conclusion that we may not agree subjectively. Please forgive me, as I was being purposefully presumptuous in some of the things I said above… but that is not the point. I’m just generalizing for the sake of getting at the crux. Most of the people reading this will not care one way or the other. Some will be bored to tears as to, “what is the going on and on about”. In the end we all just love music and are devilishly passionate about it–Pretty simple, no? 🙂

So, in the past I did some reviews….Beck, The Beatles Catalogue, Led Zeppelin Catalog, etc., they each get hundreds of hits daily as reference, awesome. I also posted full album playlists (with some lineage)…it was quite subtle, again on purpose as to what I have deemed a Reference Quality Audio Recording. I don’t know if I said it outright, I may have…If not my tongue in cheek went over people’s heads. A failed attempt by me. Yes, you are left to taking me at my word, have to search for it yourself, and availability is spotty. I know it’s somewhat authoritarian but let your ears be the judge. There were many times I have searched for a single particular recording over weeks and months before finally getting a hold of it. Time well spent!

If you search hard enough you will be able to get a hold of same source as I did, some searches will be easy, others will require patience and time. Moderately I will recommend the High-Rez digital transfer available for everyone to purchase with a quick download and some cash. I have no stake in this…no adverts, self funded hosting and servers. I’m just passionate about music and everything else, and I know you are as well, or you would not be reading this.

Just a note **** again, the night site is under maintenance (The links from here the day page are static as of writing this)…It will be up again soon enough. I’m going to do all those recordings here on the main page individually anyhow. So there will probably be some updates as well. When live, it will give you an idea of some of what I will cover, and it is only a small part of projected works.

From now on instead of taking a few months to do mega reviews, although I will someday do the Complete Pink Floyd Archives Posts (Damn there I go again, that’s one exception), from now on there will be single album releases (From past and present) which a single post can be done in one day. I will do whatever I am listening to and I have in my wheelhouse as the best recordings and rips / digital to date. The posts will vary widely in style, genre, and medium. One day or two could be Thrash, the next Classical, Jazz, Electronic, Pop, wherever the music takes me.

In between I will continue to do my sordid stories, post mixes, photos, memorabilia, any type of art really. I intend on making this site better by making it a reference site for individual albums. In that vein It would make it possible for those who do not want to read my silly erotica, still be able to come here intentionally via direct link or search engine in order to just browse my reviews and recommendations on specific albums…quick and easy.

In conclusion, each album will have an easy to read, specific format that I have worked out, and tweak things as I go along. If there is anything extra about a specific release that you would like to see, send me an email or message. If I can get the info – I will post it or write you back. Understand that I cannot council and/or recommend file sharing or piracy, so do not ask…messages from readers as to these types of questions will go unanswered. No disrespect…just being clear.

Please do not reproduce this article either all or in part without the expressed written permission of the author who can be reached via the “Contact” section in the header menu. You may link to the article if you wish, all that we ask is that you give credit to the respective author…”Christmachine” wherever you post a link. Thank you.

So I just got off the phone with a relative visiting Los Angeles, and I ask, where have they gone…”We’ve been to Venice Beach, Santa Monica, yada yada, and Disneyland in Anaheim. We’ve been very busy, tomorrow we head to San Diego where we will be able to relax a bit more.” I replied, “Awesome…what about the Sunset Strip, how did you like that?” I remember when I went to California for my first time…I had a local take me to see the sites, and when I brought up that I wanted to go to the strip, she said…’there’s not really much there, but I get it, we can make a stop there so you can check it out.’ I get it many locals will say that it’s a dirty waste of time. Not me, I thought, I was on a pilgrimage and if I did not experience anything other than “The Strip” that would be fine. I also get that it’s very touristy…I did not care it was the 1980’s and I had to go. So anyway my relative on the phone today says, they did not go to Sunset, and they would not have a chance. It was like a knife in my chest…WHATTTTT!!! At least do a drive through, WTF! So much amazing history but I guess it’s not to be. I know some of you are saying F Sunset, dirty waste of time…WRONG!

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

All I could think of to myself is that some day they will regret not going to the strip, just to see The Rainbow, The Whiskey, and The Troubabour. It reminded me of my first trip to Continental Europe with my Grand Parents when they took us on the “safety tour” in the 80’s when I was young, God love em, but I remembered that they tried to censor our trip. I grew up in Iceland so debauchery was not new to me, but the grandparents were a bit naive and did not get that we, the young ones already experienced the “adult stuff”. My uncle, aunt, and cousins lived near Nijmegen, Holland. It was pretty awesome experiencing it like a local…riding the bike paths in and out of the city and the 10 miles from Beuningen to Arnhem. We had Fritz Met, fries and mayonnaise, had to explain what the American word “Cool” to a local (It did not mean cold), and were hit with major porn next to the Disney Movies at the “Video Ring” while renting VHS tapes. As you know women’s breasts on TV, on the front page of the newspaper, and at the beach is normal in Europe.

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

We ate horse meat burgers (salty strange), canned hot dogs, and dairy products like eggs / butter / and unpasteurized fresh milk not refrigerated. Actually reminded me of Iceland, not the same, but eating strange foods that is. Remember there was no Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern on TV then and wandering gastronomy was not popular with Americans…still is not, but people “get” foi gras now even if they don’t want to eat it themselves. Now I know better to go for the Pig Cheek and Tuna Collar…first! Thank you Mr. Bourdain.

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

I also went to a Dutch school with my cousin and a friend of his, and all the students were asking me all kinds of questions about celebrities (blech!) and MTV (remember it was the 80’s). It wasn’t all bad, in fact I had a great time in English class. Everyone in Holland had English class in school, what was really cool was when I listened to the kids speaking English (Very fluent by the way), I realized they were learning British English. When they asked me to read a passage in their class book everyone seemed amazed and were stunned that I did not have an Icelandic accent. American English I found out that day was quite different from UK English.

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

Anyway I did not accept the idea of a censored Europe, no matter what they did (Much more on that later in this piece, see the plane ride home)…I spent my free days to do whatever I wanted, on my own wisely. I knew what I was looking for and I was going to take advantage of it, no matter what anyone said. We drove to Paris and I remember my Grandparents rushing us by the nude statues…very silly indeed, could not be avoided in The Louvre. Also all the sex shops near the Moulin Rouge was awkward for them…lol. We also went to East Germany, this was before the wall came down, and it was quite sad. Far from the free East Berlin Berghain / Panoramabar lawlessness I would visit several years ago, totally not like I remembered in a great way. We further went to Antwerp Belgium, Amsterdam NL (All Over NL), Berlin DE, Luxembourg, and Zurich Switzerland. It was a very fun trip.

I know now days seeing police dogs and Machine guns at airports is pretty common, but back then it was not. You see we planned our trip months ahead and found ourselves in Holland with military fighter jets doing mission test runs above the house. We turned on the radio and in Dutch, they were saying America was on the brink of w*ar after blo*wing up one of K*had*afi’s homes, kil*ling his s*on. It was pretty scary for a while we did not know what was going to happen day to day. Would we be taking our scheduled flight a few weeks later from Brussels to the US. We thought about leaving early, thankfully we did not as everything seemed to settle down when it was time to leave.

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

So as I said I was not going to allow a censored tour of europe, I was a young kid but had been around the block a few times. So I was worried about customs searching my bags especially with all I had acquired on my trip…unknowingly by my Grandparents and with the heightened security. My collectables in my luggage were; several Cuban Cigars, a bottle of cheap French Drinking Wine that all the locals in Paris drank at lunchtime with their bread and fromage, 1 bottle of Russian Potato Vodka, 1 bottle of REAL Czechoslovakian Absinthe, 1 Switchblade, 1 pen…woman with disappearing dress, 1 pack of Po*rn Star Playing Cards, and there was more but you get the idea. I was not even a teen yet and I was a walking ball of debauchery to go, just add water. It was that Heavy Metal music, it was a bad influence on me…I’ll blame it on that. K.

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

So we get to the airport in Brussels and began to put our luggage on the conveyor to the x-ray. As it went through I could have pissed myself. Breathe! As soon as my bag came through I picked it up and hustled it away about 30 feet to the bottom of the escalators. I grabbed another bag of my family’s as well. Then all of a sudden there was a commotion behind the scanner and two airport officials come out from behind and start pulling my Grandmother’s bag apart, obviously looking for something. They found nothing as my bag was safely away. Ah to be young again, man was I a handful. That was very close…very very close! Imagine them unpacking my suitcase full of treats right in front of my stunned Grandparents?!?! Anyway I passed through customs and on arrival in the US scuttled without even a search or declaration form in the US. As I walked by inspectors they paid me no attention as I tried to steady my bag, the bottles had come unwrapped and were now clinking. I almost shat myself…steady hand!

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

More to come about my trips to Continental Europe in the future, time to get back to music, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Forward a few years…Now it was the late 80’s, but I had travelled to LA in 83, 85, 88 and 89 and I did not establish my connections in the music industry until the middle of 1989. I thought to myself, I had missed out on Hendrix and the 60’s scene, as well as the Punk Movement in the 70’s (single digits, although I saw the Ramones in 83 but that does not count, right, as I missed the movement). So I had to go to LA for the 80’s Glam Metal Scene…the Sunset strip was insane. The freaks were out and dressed to kill, it was more than you would imagine, the smell of Aqua Net and Phunky Kush was overwhelming. I got to see almost all of the LA Metal bands as there were shows every night of the week. It was a pretty carefree time as I was traveling back and forth between the UK, Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle quite often. There were also many side trips to Vegas and Frisco as well. In the future I would find myself living between the UK, Reykjavik, Boston, San Diego, and San Francisco between tours in the 90’s. What made it even more amazing was that I was able to physically see the major turn in the music industry from LA Glam to The Seattle Sound.

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

When I look back on it, it was a seismic shift but as I just liked loud music I transitioned easily from Motley Crue and Ratt to Alice In Chains and Nirvana. I did not give a fuck about the politics and I got along with almost anybody, so at the time I did not notice the music was too different, of course it was different, but more importantly I could feel that I was part of something very unique and a part of history. What made everything more confusing was that Guns N’ Roses, Janes Addiction, and The Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s holding it up for LA blurring the Alternative lines. Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer (The Big Four) where holding things up for thrash in the US and even bigger in Europe and South America. I would just the same listen to LA Guns, Mudhoney, or Megadeth (just as I do today)…where I really noticed the transition was when I went back home to work in the clubs in the 90’s. All the work shifted from LA to Seattle for sure but back home Glam Metal was out and “Grunge” (hate that term) was in at some point. I didn’t get the memo that Metal was out and Seattle was in. I just went with the flow. The difference at home was the radio had stopped playing 80’s metal and full rotation was set on Seattle, it was really strange. Instead of taking my flights to LAX, I was now heading for SEATAC. That’s just the way it was. Not Enough time to write about the Raves and The Grateful Dead, Old Skool Rap Shows ( Notorious BIG, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Warren G, NWA, Public Enemy, Wu Tang Clan, KRS 1, Dr. Dre, etc.) that’s for other articles…I was going nonstop for sure!

Photo Courtesy Of Doc!

My experiences during these times are just beginning to be published, every day still I remember a new adventure and make note to be sure I remember to write about it here. “Bastard Saint” the Series has turned into something bigger. A book about all my experiences set to a bizarre ethereal netherworld. Based on a true story…there is so much to it, I will be posting excerpts from it in the New Year of 2015. Sorry, much later than I had expected because I want to give everybody a taste of how the book is coming along and the characters within, without giving away everything in a few posts. However I will probably self publish and give it away for free. So I look to give everyone here pieces to wet the tongue, while leaving people wanting to see development and progress with the full text.

So in closing here I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays! Have a drink and a toke on me…I’ll be sticking with my coffee, Ettan, and Skruf Xtra Stark with a little Thunder Ultra Raspberry / Thunder Frosted, Oden’s Kanel, Gotlandskt Julesnus to keep it real for the season! Real Swedish Imported Snus Taxes Paid(Med Smak Av Jul !)….not that American SNUS Shit!

Most Recent Imported Swedish Snus Haul:

UPDATE: 12/23/14 ~ Excellent News…I guess it was meant to be. I just got off Facetime and the relatives did make it to the Sunset Strip today and they Loved It!!! They are now safely in San Diego [Dago] @ Mission Bay. Pacific Beach Manana!

So Cali Love!!!

Thanks for reading and for all your kind words and support!

More Interesting Articles and Reviews to come.

Cheers and Bless Bless!

CM ☕

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Please do not reproduce this article either all or in part without the expressed written permission of the author who can be reached via the “Contact” section in the header menu. You may link to the article if you wish, all that we ask is that you give credit to the respective author…”Christmachine” wherever you post a link. Thank you.

This is an educational website only…providing knowledge to those seeking information and artistic criticism in their journey for a more thorough understanding of contemporary media technology and guerrilla journalism.

To help others to navigate the tedious, and sometimes difficult to understand world of Analog to Digital / Digital to Digital Recordings and Transfers or “Rips”.

It’s all about the “Art Of Mastering” and “Source Material”. As you know the sound is only as good as it’s source, thus “Garbage in Garbage Out”.

As of today we have a large “Reference Quality Recordings” catalog (Flat Analog Transfers to Digital) sourced from Vinyl Rips from around the world. Our goal is to pressure the Rec*ording industry to move toward creating a “Reference Quality Digital Recordings Catalog” (Direct Flat Transfers from Original Analog Master Tapes to Digital). There are a few movements that are positively affecting change toward this goal, but the quality of Hi-Res Digital transfers is still extremely selective and spotty.

What is considered the “Best” of any recording is subjective…for example someone may love an official Hi-Res Digital Recording and that is fine, they might find the clarity and detail from such a recording is “The Best they have ever heard”. Whereas another trained ear who has heard many available recordings in different resolutions and formats of the recording in question might find it sterile, clinical, cold and lacking in many ways, as well as the sound being “different” from what the artists in the studio originally intended for the listener to hear. Re-masters and Re-mixes “usually” are not a good thing as people have been led to believe.

It should be stressed that every recording must be taken and analyzed on it’s own merit. Each release must be scrutinized on it’s own, without any bias that has been realized from any other recording. This sounds simple and obvious, but in critical listening, each individual album must be approached in this manner.

Lineage / Provenance of a recording should be the industry standard and it is not. Why are they hiding this information, we think it to be a combination of lack of care as well as the desire to keep the purchasing public in the dark so that they can continue to resell, over and over “Improved Quality Recordings”. This, not providing Lineage / Provenance of a recording is unacceptable.

The main goal of this site over all others is to provide content from all genres of music with no prejudice toward another. Good music is good music, and opening peoples minds to new sounds is extremely relevant here. This obviously does not mean “forced to listen”…this site will cover music you will like and not like. If you do not like something don’t listen and move on to something you do like. It’s sad that some people just give up if they are into Electronic Music and I post something that is Pop or Metal. I don’t mean to pick on Electronic music it is an example, Metal Heads or any other genres fans can give up if I post Jazz or Leftfield. Live a little!

Thanks for reading…you may want to check the “About” page on occasion, as I have said it is constantly evolving.

Again thank you for all your support…let’s enjoy the music!

Cheers and Bless Bless!

CM ☕

☠

Please do not reproduce this article either all or in part without the expressed written permission of the author who can be reached via the “Contact” section in the header menu. You may link to the article if you wish, all that we ask is that you give credit to the respective author…”Christmachine” wherever you post a link. Thank you.

Today we present “The Oasis Appreciation Post”. I have to start out by saying that it is very unlikely that “Oasis Appreciation” would show up here at this website. The reason being that their album “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?”, is considered to be the start of the “Loudness Wars”. Actually it had started before that however, no other album before then had taken “Brickwalled Recording” and Compression to the level that WTSMG had gone. Most albums after that were produced with the ideology that “Louder is Better” at moving as many units as possible. Even though almost everyone had bought into it, Oasis did not know that they were damaging the music, they just wanted to be the loudest band in the world. The way I choose to look at it is, because of the album WTSMG we now have the emergence of Hi-Res audio. You can thank them for it when you get a chance.

It was interesting to me when I heard Lars Ulrich from Metallica say ‘Oasis was the soundtrack to my life for the last 20 years.’ That is paraphrased because I can’t be bothered to look up his exact statement…but I have to show some F’ing attitude when It comes to paying homage to the Gallagher Brothers and their band Oasis. When Lars said this, it hit me in such a way that I realized that I had gone through a similar experience with the band Oasis albeit from a different perspective.

I really had not listened to much Oasis in the last decade but it reminded me at how much a part Oasis was in my wheelhouse in the 1990’s. They where loud, they were brash, and they could crank out songs and hooks with spine tingling hits. If you did not spend time in the UK during the 90’s or only heard a few songs on the radio you probably slagged them off. If it gives you any satisfaction, I can say that I hate the song “Wonderwall”. People gave me shit for liking them but I did not fucking care. You had to be there I guess.

As I’ve said before my biggest complaint about Oasis was their choice to record their albums so bricking loud and compressed that I’m forced to listen to their greatest live gigs on video when I want a fix. They are a much better live band than in the studio IMHO. It does not get much better than an Oasis set opening with “Fuckin in The Bushes” into “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” into “Lyla” into “Acquiesce” into “Columbia” into “Morning Glory”, where…

“All your dreams are made
When you’re chained to the mirror of your razor blade
Today’s the day that all the world will see
Another sunny afternoon
Walking to the sound of my favorite tune
Tomorrow never knows what it doesn’t know too soon

Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up, wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to rest your minds
You know you should, so I guess you might as well”

Songwriter; Gallagher, Noel

Oasis obviously stole from the the Beatles but were heavier, twisted with a sour punk aftertaste of the Sex Pistols. Just as the Rolling Stones stole from Muddy Waters and Guns N Roses stole from the Stones, Oasis was just easier to hate because of Liam Gallagher singing adamantly about “My Big Mouth”. If you don’t believe my rip off analogy, listen to The Rolling Stones “Sticky Fingers” followed by Guns N’ Roses “Appetite For Destruction” or “Lies” and you will know what I mean. I know people are now screaming at their monitors right now after having said that, but it’s what I believe. I think it was the renowned critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine who talked about bands who used other bands sound as a reference point and then built on that and that is what I got from Oasis. If the Beatles had continued on to the present day “the Oasis Songwriting style” is what I would hope them to sound like. Of course that’s my imagination running wild, as the Beatles were far superior musicians, singers, and harmonizers. Many will see that as sacrilege but I’m humored for the moment. Continue screaming at monitor.

So say what you will, but for a moment in time, Oasis was the biggest band in the world. A lofty feat for any band, one for which many would trade their souls. After extensive touring from 97-99 it was well documented that Liam Gallagher had blown out his voice over his harsh singing style and a cocaine drip. I still find their live videos great to watch and love their ornery interaction with the audience. You can tell it’s out of love and affection for their fans, it’s just the way they are, being from the working class council estates of Burnage Manchester and making it big. Where Cobain was saying “I hate myself and I want to die”, Noel Gallagher a Nirvana fan wrote the song “Live Forever.”

I imagine Oasis as the kind of guys, like your best friends, where you get rip roaring drunk and coked out, and go fucking nuts. Blood, sweat, snot, and guts with fists flying only to find your crew all hugging in the end amongst broken beer bottles, bare feet, pieces of furniture and a smashed TV…no doubt with the stereo still playing very loud throughout it all. I don’t know if that was your experience but it was mine, at least that’s the way it was with my friends.

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